Tuesday, 18 March 2014

The London Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Phil should cut their ties with Putin's musical puppet Valery Gergiev

"his loyalty to the Russian president has been rewarded with personal honours, including the esteemed Hero of Labour, and multi-million state grants for his pet projects, most notably the restoration of his Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg"(The Guardian)
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Valery Gergiev, the internationally renowned Russian conductor, has joined a host of other arts and cultural figures from Russia in support of President Vladimir Putin's controversial policies in Ukraine's Crimea region.

The conductor was one of 100 signatories of an open letter released this week backing Russia's military intervention in Ukraine and the government's efforts to annex Crimea. The letter was posted on the website of Russia's culture ministry on Wednesday.The letter's signatories say that they "firmly state support for the position of the president of the Russian Federation" in the region, according to translated reports.

No wonder that the people in Munich, who chose him as the next Chief Conductor of the Munich Phil, are getting cold feet:

Is it wise to hold on to this principal conductor?”“Gergiev sees himself as a cultural ambassador for Russia, he will not remain silent in the future. Putin’s policies will overshadow any of his [musical] performances until further notice. If the Russians suddenly want to ‘free’ their compatriots in Riga, he will certainly defend this as well as any other step of the President.”It is difficult to see, how this highly overrated conductor, who has been richly rewarded by Putin, will be able hang on to his contract with the Munich Phil. But it is even more difficult to understand why the venerable London Symphony Orchestra still keeps this man as its Principal Conductor. Sir Colin must be turning in his grave ....